Technical Procurement Specialist

Job description

Who are we? 

We're a smart hydration company rebuilding an industry that still runs on sugar water and single-use packaging.
Filtered water, functional flavors, zero bottles. Still, sparkling, cold, and hot. All poured from one tap. We create hydration people want to reach for, starting with the workplace where we help teams thrive.
As an AI-native company, we build at speed. In 2025, Aquablu ranked 2nd in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 (Netherlands) and 30th in the Sifted 250 (Europe), both rankings of the fastest-growing companies by revenue growth. In 2026 we were named a winner of Maya's Culture 100 Europe Awards as one of the best workplaces to thrive in.
Growing that fast and thriving comes down to our people. Our team is our biggest asset and one that we’re proud of. We’re committed to maintaining our vibrant culture as we continue to grow.

The Role

Cost hides. It sits in a tolerance nobody questioned, a process chosen because it was the fastest way to a prototype, a freight lane nobody renegotiated, a part with a single supplier and a single tool.

Most of it is designed long before anyone asks for a quote. So this role sits close to the engineers. You'll read the technical pack, understand why the part is made the way it is, and see where cost has been locked in by  spec and supplier. It’s on you to take that knowledge and negotiate, instead of finding out from the quote.

You'll own the category end to end. You source and qualify suppliers before we need them, run the negotiations on the parts that matter, put the agreements in place, and build credible alternatives so we're never negotiating from a single-supplier position. You'll also source the parts behind our next product line, working shoulder to shoulder with Engineering, Quality, and Finance.

You won't be processing POs. You'll own the category and turn it into margin, with the autonomy to shape the systems you work in from your first month.

What You'll Own

Know what it should cost. Build should-cost from the drawing up: material and mass, process route, cycle time, machine rate, scrap, tooling and its amortisation, freight, duty. Bring your own number to every negotiation and be able to defend each line of it.

Challenge the design, not just the price. Read the technical pack and ask the questions that move cost: does that tolerance need to be that tight?, is that finish overkill?, is machining the right process at this volume?. Take those questions to Engineering as a peer, and look for cost down opportunities.

Qualify on capability, not certificates. Audit what actually makes the part to find suitable supply partners to grow and scale with.

Interrogate lead time and capacity. Break a quoted lead time into its subcomponents and know which part of it is real, which is padding, and which is somebody else's problem waiting to become ours.

Negotiate and own the terms. Price, but also the terms that decide cost later: tooling ownership, MOQ and batch sizing, change control, material index mechanisms, payment terms. Then make sure the terms we agreed are the terms we get.

Build the fallback. Qualify alternate sources on critical parts — through visiting, sampling, inspections and processes, not a phone call.

Hold the line when quality drifts. When a supplier tells you nothing has changed, know where to look: process changes, tooling wear, a swapped sub-tier, a material substitution, a drifting control plan. Work it with our Quality and Engineering until you have the actual cause.

Source for what's next. Drive the commercial funnel on new product development: technical packs out, RFQs in, audits, qualification, negotiation — early enough to influence the design while it's still cheap to change.

What You Bring

• Four years or more in procurement, buying, strategic sourcing, or category management, buying engineered parts in manufacturing or FMCG. Fast-growth scale-up experience helps.

• You can read a technical drawing and hold a real conversation with an engineer: tolerances, GD&T, material grades, finishes, and production methods. No engineering degree required — but fluency is not optional in this role.

• Hands-on experience procuring across a process family (machining, casting, sheet metal, moulding, electro-mechanical assembly) and a feel for what each one costs and where it stops being the right answer.

• Should-cost or teardown modelling: you've built one, or you're the kind of person who will build their first one in month two.

• Savings you can point to and explain, including where the saving actually came from: spec, process, supplier, volume, or terms.

• Proof you can run end to end without someone setting the agenda for you.

• Commercial instinct, ownership, and a steady hand when things move fast.

• Fluent English.

• The right to work in the Netherlands. We're not an IND sponsor, so we can't sponsor a visa.

• You're available at least 4 days on-site in our Amsterdam office in Houthavens.

Helps, But Not Required

• International sourcing.

• Food-contact and regulatory compliance: EU 10/2011, REACH, CE.

• Producing through contract manufacturers.

• AI in your daily workflow, and a builder's instinct.

Where This Goes

Hands-on, cross-functional ownership across costing, negotiation, international sourcing, and category strategy. Strong performers move toward senior procurement and category-lead roles, with wider strategic scope or a team as the function scales.

Why Aquablu?

You will be part of a young, fun and ambitious team which aims to change the way people consume water!

💰 A salary base of €50,000 (incl. 8% holiday allowance), OTE €65,000, capped at €75,000. You share in the value you help create.

🌴 26 paid holiday days

📈 Equity through our Aquablu for All plan — everyone shares in what we’re building

🌱 Healthy (heavily discounted) lunches

💪 Urban Sports Club membership

🚀 Access to the Corporate Benefits platform for endless savings

🚆 Travel compensation >10km

👴 A pension plan by Zwitserleven.

💧 Endless amount of our very own flavoured water !

💙Check out out our Youtube to get a feeling for the culture at Aquablu!

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